OCTC's PTK Earns Awards from KY Regional Convention

by Bernie Hale

Owensboro, KY (04/25/2023) — The Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Kentucky Regional Convention was held on April 1, 2023, and Owensboro Community & Technical College's (OCTC) Alpha Xi Gamma Chapter earned many honors and awards.

OCTC was named a 5 Star Chapter Plan award winner. As a result of the engagement of individual chapters in the 5-Star Chapter Plan, the Kentucky Region has once again been named a 5-Star Region for 2022 and will be recognized as a Catalyst at the national convention.

Dr. Tim Dick was named a Continued Excellence Award for Advisors, recognizing advisors who have already received the distinguished advisor award.

The College Project Awards were established to ensure a supportive relationship between the college chapter and the mission of the institution. The chapter meets with the college president or designee to determine the College Project, which can be anything that supports the college's mission.

Second Runner up: Preparation Thru Kollaboration, Bluegrass Community & and Technical College. First Runner Up: Promoting Therapy Assistance Online (TAO), Ashland Community & Technical College. First Place: Evaluation of the Burmese Refugee OCTC experience to improve the higher education of future refugee students, Owensboro Community & and Technical College.

The Honors in Action Theme Award recognizes chapters whose Honors in Action Project Award entries scored highest in each of the seven themes related to the 2022-23 Honors Study Topic, The Art and Science of Play. OCTC was named as the First Runner Up. Honors in Action Project Awards incorporate academic research and analysis, action (service or advocacy), collaboration, and impact. Each project is based on a theme from the 2022-23 Honors Study Topic, The Art and Science of Play. OCTC's chapter earned First Place honors.

To be considered for a Distinguished Chapter Award, a chapter must submit entries for both the Honors in Action Project and College Project Award. Selection of the Distinguished Chapters is based solely on the written entries for these Hallmark Awards. The scores in each of the two Hallmark categories are equally weighted to determine a chapter's overall ranking. Awards are presented to the top chapters entering the Honors in Action and College Project categories. The MOST distinguished chapter, OCTC's Alpha Xi Gamma Chapter, scored the highest overall in combined Honors in Action Project and College Project Award rankings and was recognized as the Most Distinguished Chapter in the Kentucky Region.

The group headed to Columbus April 20-22, for the international 2023 Catalyst Convention. At the conference, the Kentucky region was named as a 2023 Catalyst, and the OCTC team received an award recognizing them as a Top 50 Chapter, out of more than 1,300 chapters.

The OCTC Team of PTK of the Alpha Xi Gamma Chapter includes: Dr. Timothy Dick, Faculty Advisor, Ceary Crisp, Advisor, Nikki Wimpelberg, Advisor,

Chapter Officers President- Preet Patel, VP of Service- Delaney Bond, Secretary- Ethan Calvert, Pubic Relations Officer- Nolan Fleming, Vice President- Alexis Jackson, Vice President- Kennedi Owens, VP of Scholarship-Kayley Payne, Treasurer- Emma Roberts, Vice President- Camille Roberts and VP of Fellowship-Madison Willoughby.

Besides networking and the opportunity to design and conduct research projects, PTK offers a plethora of scholarships for students. To be invited to join OCTC's PTK, a student must have completed at least 12 hours of coursework toward a degree, or 6 hours toward a certificate, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5. Once you are eligible, you will receive an email invitation to join the chapter. There is a one-time, lifetime membership fee of $60 to join.

For more information, contact Tim Dick, tim.dick@kctcs.edu.

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